Fairfield to create first bike route

Tom Cleary

Published 11:24 pm, Sunday, November 25, 2012

FAIRFIELD -- The bike ride along Mill Plain Road can be a bit of an intimidating one -- with heavy traffic, narrow roads near train overpasses and highway on- and off-ramps among the obstacles facing a cyclist making the trip.

But the town, along with group of concerned citizens, hopes a new bike route along the road, which connects the northern part of town with the southern end, including downtown and the beach, will make for a safer, and more attractive, ride.

"It's pretty exciting," said Andrew Graceffa, the president of the Fairfield Bike Walk Coalition and co-chairman of the town's bicycle and pedestrian plan advisory committee. "It's a little project, but it's the first in the town. It will be a pilot route."

A $15,000 grant from the state, approved by the Representative Town Meeting in October, will fund the route, including the painting of white shoulder lanes on both sides of the road and new signage. The route will run along Mill Plain Road from Brookside Drive to Unquowa Road, near several schools, parks and other highly used areas, Graceffa said. It will be completed by Spring.

Fairfield has been working along with the Greater Bridgeport Regional Council to make the town safer for cyclists and pedestrians. A study released last year showed that the town averages about 7.3 accidents involving vehicles and bicycles each year, a relatively low number compared to the more than 1,300 total crashes that occur during an average year, but still one that officials would like to decrease.

Graceffa said drivers and bicyclists are becoming more aware of how to share the road. The bike route is another step toward safety for both groups.

"It gives a safer environment for kids and families to appreciate bicycle riding," Graceffa said. "And it helps drivers in town as well, because it takes a few cars off the road with more people biking and walking. Studies also show that it will reduce the speed of traffic slightly along the route, which includes a residential area, so those in the neighborhood are in favor of the project."

The Mill Plain Road project is part of a master plan for a bike network around town, that Graceffa and others have been working on for about two years. Town officials approached that group when the grant became available to them, and several reasons factored into the decision to start with Mill Plain Road, including the fact that it was already being re-surfaced, and fits several criteria required for a bike route, including the width of the road. It was also a popular suggestion for a bike route in a survey conducted last year that received 750 responses from bicyclists in town.

Town Engineer Bill Hurley said during the RTM meeting that his department determined Mill Plain Road would be an "excellent example for a pilot program." Hurley said after the grant ends in two years, the town will have to decide whether to commit money to continue repainting the lines.

"This little piece is just a piece of the plan," Graceffa said. "It was a collaborative effort with our group, the engineering department in town, public works, health department and the First Selectman's office, and a huge thanks goes out to them."

Graceffa and other advocates for bicyclists and pedestrians in town hope this won't be the last bike route put in place in Fairfield. He said other town residents who want to get involved in the Bike Walk Coalition can find info on the group's Facebook page, or on Twitter, or by coming to a monthly meeting. He said it will be critical for the town to continue to make the roads safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.

"This is still a young effort in Fairfield, in its adolescent stage," Graceffa said. "It will have some growing pains, but we are trying to get the public more involved."